Jodi Ann Arias' capital murder trial has captured the attention of news watchers across the country. She is accused of stabbing her ex-boyfriend 27 times, slashing his throat, and shooting him in the face while they were in his Mesa, Ariz., house.

The 32-year-old could become the fourth woman on Arizona's death row if the jury finds her guilty of first-degree murder.

According to prosecutors, Travis Alexander's grisly death on June 4, 2008, was the result of a deadly plot carried out by an obsessed and viciously jealous ex-girlfriend.

Alexander and Arias' boyfriend-girlfriend relationship ended in June 2007, however, their sexual relationship was far from over. Investigators found a digital camera at the murder scene that contained photos of the them having sex just hours before Alexander died.

During her 18 days of testifying, Arias shocked the courtroom when she admitted she killed him. Her defense lawyer said Arias acted in self-defense and was forced to kill her physically abusive lover.

The aspiring photographer's trial has been going on since January. One piece of evidence presented in court was Arias' California driver's license. She used it to rent a car in Redding, Calif. on June 2, 2008. The next day, on June 3, she drove to Monterey and Salinas. And on June 4, Alexander was slain.

Why does Arias' driver's license say she lives in Big Sur? And why was Arias on the Central Coast the day before she committed the homicide?

Arias was born in Salinas on July 9, 1980. She lived in Salinas until her family moved to Yreka, Calif., when she was 12. In 2001, she moved to Big Sur when she was hired to work at the Ventana Inn & Spa, a luxury hotel perched above the Pacific Ocean.

Arias fell in love with the man who hired her, Darryl Brewer. Brewer, who still lives in Monterey, was the Ventana Inn's restaurant manager at the time. While on the witness stand last month, Brewer testified that he fell in love with Arias and they lived together in Big Sur from 2002 until 2006.

She broke up with Brewer around the same time she met Alexander in Las Vegas in September 2006.

While Brewer was questioned by the prosecution and defense about the dynamic of their long-term relationship, he defended Arias' character. She was loving and never possessive, controlling or jealous during their relationship, he said.

After Alexander broke up with Arias, she moved from Arizona back to Yreka, Calif., in April 2008.

Brewer also testified that on June 3, 2008, Arias called him several times. When he finally answered the phone, Arias asked if she could stop by his Monterey house and borrow two cans of gas because, she said, she was about to make a long drive to southern California.

Brewer said Arias left his house at 10 a.m. and a receipt from a Salinas Walmart showed that Arias bought a third can of gas in her hometown. She drove from Salinas to Los Angeles, but she kept going, and arrived at Alexander's house in Mesa, Arizona on June 4, 2008.

Arias testified that Alexander began attacking her after they had sex. She grabbed a gun out of Alexander's closet, shot him in self-defense, and does not remember stabbing him, she told the jury.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, psychologist Richard Samuels told jurors that he diagnosed Arias with post-traumatic stress disorder and amnesia, which explains why she can't remember that day.

After the slaying, investigators said Arias left the bloodstained house and drove back to California to return her rental car.

Arias was arrested on July 15, 2008. A video camera inside the Mesa police station's interrogation room recorded bizarre behavior that the judge barred the jury from viewing. Arias cried as detectives questioned her for four hours, but after they left the room, Arias sang to herself, laughed, and did a handstand, the video showed.

When officers returned and told her she was being charged with first-degree murder, Arias asked if she could put makeup on before they took her mug shot.

The national media has made endless speculations and comments about Arias -- often comparing her to Casey Anthony -- and Arias has been happy to give interviews.

During one interview with "Inside Edition," Arias said, "No jury is going to convict me ... because I’m innocent. You can mark my words on that one. No jury will convict me."

PHOTOS: Jodi Arias murder case

PHOTOS: Jodi Arias murder case

Salinas native Jodi Arias murdered her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, in his Arizona home on June 4, 2008. She was convicted of first-degree murder on May 8, 2013.

Arias could become the fourth woman on Arizona's death row if the jury recommends the death penalty.

Minutes after the jury convicted her on May 8, 2013, Arias told a reporter in the courthouse that she prefers the death penalty over life in prison. With tears in her eyes, she said she felt overwhelmed and surprised because she didn't believe she committed first-degree murder.

Arias said she would "prefer to die sooner than later," and that "death is the ultimate freedom." Arias considered suicide after killing her lover Travis Alexander.

Arias was born in Salinas, Calif. on July 9, 1980 and grew up there until she was 12. Her family later moved to Yreka, Calif.

Arias was hired in 2001 to work at the Ventana Inn & Spa, a luxury hotel perched above the Pacific Ocean in Big Sur.

She fell in love with the man who hired her, Darryl Brewer, and they lived in Big Sur together from 2002 until 2006. Arias broke up with Brewer soon after she met Travis Alexander in Las Vegas.

On June 3, 2008, the day before she murdered Alexander, Arias stopped in Monterey and Salinas.

She visited Brewer at his house in Monterey and he let her borrow two gas cans. Arias told Brewer she needed the gas for a long drive, and then bought a third gas can in Salinas.

Arias drove from the Monterey Peninsula to Alexander's house in Mesa, Arizona, where the two had sex and snapped X-rated photos of eachother.

Alexander was a devout Mormon who told his friends and family that he was a virgin.

Evidence seized by investigators, however, show that was far from the truth. A camera found at the murder scene contained sexually explicit photos of Alexander and Arias together. Investigators believe some photos of Alexander nude in a shower were snapped just hours before he was slain.

When she was first arrested, Arias did handstands and sang to herself when officers stepped out of the police station's interrogation room.

Arias initially told police that she had nothing to do with her ex-lover's death. Later, she blamed it on two masked intruders armed with knifes. Two years after her arrest, she said she did it, and it was self-defense.

Arias converted to the Mormon religion after meeting Alexander. Alexander was a lifelong Mormon and he attended Arias' baptism.

Arias was often compared to Florida mother Casey Anthony. But Wednesday's verdict was starkly different from the fate received by Anthony, who was freed from jail after the jury found her not guilty in her daughter's slaying.

This is a photo of Anthony the day she walked free.

Prosecutors said after Alexander broke up with Arias and began dating other women, she began plotting his death.

Arias spent 18 days testifying and describing her abusive childhood, cheating boyfriends, dead-end jobs, a shocking sexual relationship with Alexander, and her contention that he was physically abusive in the months leading to his death.

Jodi Arias, left, murdered Travis Alexander, right, by shooting him in the head and stabbing him nearly 30 times, prosecutors said.

Arias said she ran into Alexander's closet, (shown here), grabbed his gun, and shot him in self defense. She testified that she did not remember stabbing him.

Arias is 32 years old and has already spent five years in jail.

After he was slain on June 4, 2008, Alexander's body was dragged into a shower and left there inside his Mesa, Arizona home.

Second penalty phase begins in the Jodi Arias trial today.

Alexander's mother and other family members buried their faces in their hands, sobbed, and stared at the ground to avoid seeing the gruesome crime scene photos. Arias also averted her eyes.

This was Arias' reaction when the jury's guilty verdict was read on May 8, 2013. She showed little emotion and did not cry.

Jodi Arias' murder trial lasted from January until May.

Jodi Arias changed her hair color from blond to brown and began wearing glasses for her murder trial.

Arias changed her hair color from blond to brown and began wearing glasses for her murder trial.

Jodi Arias' murder trial lasted from January until May.

Jodi Arias' mug shot

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